Friday, March 29, 2013

Founded in 1951, the Society is open to anyone with an interest in
Sherlock Holmes, Dr John H. Watson and their world. It is a literary and
social Society, publishing a scholarly Journal and occasional papers,
and holding meetings, dinners and excursions.
Visit the web site to explore all the great content.Web Site

While
rewriting Conan Doyle's script, the American actor William
Gillette famously asked, "May I marry Holmes?" The author replied, "You
may marry or murder, or do what you like with him!" The resulting play
was first
staged in 1899 and has lasted for more than a century. Gillette himself
recorded an abridged version in 1935, for the Lux Radio Theater. Three
years later
Orson Welles adapted the play as an hour-long drama for the Mercury
Theater on the Air, in which he took the leading role, giving a
remarkable
impersonation of Gillette.
The play wasn't heard on British radio
until 1953, when the classic partnership of Carleton Hobbs and Norman
Shelley took
the roles of Holmes and Watson in an adaptation by Raymond Raikes, with
Frederick Valk as Professor Moriarty. Although two good audio
productions were made
in California in recent years, each with a distinguished British actor
in the lead Ð Martin Jarvis and David Warner - the play hasn't been
heard on British
radio since the 1950s.
In the Old Court Radio Theatre Company's
new adaptation, JIM CROZIER and DAVE HAWKES return as Holmes and Watson -
roles that
they have made very much their own - with CYRIL BAGSHAW as Professor
Moriarty. The supporting cast comprises; BETH WALTERS, SIMON THOMAS,
KATHERINE TOKLEY,
MARK PRESTON, VINCE WEBB, LINDSAY LLOYD, IVOR JEVONS, JESSE POWIS, M J
ELLIOTT and BRIAN ADRIAN.Listen to Part One
>> | Listen to Part Two >>

FIVE
YEARS AFTER the supposed death of Sherlock Holmes at the hands of his
arch-enemy
Professor Moriarty, The Strand Magazine published two apparently
unrelated mystery stories, each quoting an un-named criminal
investigator. Devotees have
long debated the identity of this person: was he Sherlock Holmes or not?
In this ingenious new play, M J ELLIOTT assumes that Holmes and Watson
did
investigate the mysterious murder on the Rugby express.

FIVE
YEARS AFTER the
supposed death of Sherlock Holmes at the hands of his arch-enemy
Professor Moriarty, The Strand Magazine published two apparently
unrelated mystery
stories, each quoting an un-named criminal investigator. Devotees have
long debated the identity of this person: was he Sherlock Holmes or not?
In this
ingenious new play, M J ELLIOTT assumes that Holmes and Watson did
investigate the baffling disappearance of a special train.

Sherlock Holmes told his friend Watson that the case of
"The Gloria Scott" was the beginning of his career as a professional
detective.
It occurred during his student days, and it concerned theft, murder and
blackmail.

The
complex problem of "Wisteria Lodge" gave him plenty of scope. And set
him in friendly rivalry with Inspector Baynes of the Surrey
Constabulary, the only police official who was unarguably his equal as a
detective.

This story comes from The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes,
the last of the nine books about the great detective to be written by
his creator,
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Mazarin Stone, being based on a stage play,
The Crown Diamond.

This story also comes from The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes. In The
Veiled Lodger Homes and Watson are listeners with us to the story of a
past crime
- but what a story it is! Devotees will recognise elements from Conan
Doyle's apocryphal tale 'The Field Bazaar'.

Before
BBC Radio 4's
dramatisation of the complete Sherlock Holmes Canon, THE YELLOW FACE had
never been adapted for radio. Until now! Now this most elusive
adventure is
available in a witty and exciting new dramatisation by M J ELLIOTT.

THE
THREE STUDENTS was broadcast in the early 1950s on the Light Programme,
in Children's Hour, but no recordings exist. And that's all.
Until now! Now this most elusive adventure is available in a witty and
exciting new dramatisation by M J ELLIOTT.

From
the first volume of Dr Watson's chronicles, The Adventures of Sherlock
Holmes, The Beryl Coronet takes Holmes and Watson into a world of
high society and high finance. Not for the first time, or the last, they
must deal with the indiscretions of a truly illustrious client.

The
Speckled Band" is an altogether darker business - a tale of
madness, violence and gothic suspense. Dr Grimesby Roylott (wonderful
name!) is one of the classic villains, and the story has consistently
ranked among
the all-time favourites since it was first published in The Strand
Magazine in 1891.

The
case of 'The Five Orange Pips', from the late 1880s, was one of
Sherlock Holmes' rare failures: he identified the doom that stalked the
Openshaw family, but could not prevent the murder of his client.

.The Carnation Contented Hour was a long-running radio music series, sponsored by the Carnation Milk Company, which premiered April 26, 1931 on the regional NBC West Coast network. The full network series began January 4, 1932 and was heard for two decades until its final broadcast on December 30, 1951.

With its opening theme, "Contented," the musical variety show featured Percy Faith and his orchestra. Performers varied but usually included Buddy Clark, vocalist; Reinhold Schmidt, bass; and Josephine Antoine, soprano. The announcer was Vincent Pelletier. The program's producers were Harry K. Gilman and C. H. Cottington.

Until October 24, 1932, the program featured Gene Arnold and Herman Larson, broadcast over NBC Blue on Mondays at 8pm. Buddy Clark joined the cast on October 31, 1932. From October 2, 1949 until December 30, 1951 it was heard Sundays on the Columbia Broadcasting System with Dick Haymes starring.

During World War II, the Armed Forces Radio Service obtained rights to rebroadcast the program to military personnel. Recordings were made on 16" electrical transcription discs for playback at 33 1/3 rpm over AFRS. Commercial messages were edited out, and the program was re-titled The Melody Hour.

Jay Hickerson's The Ultimate History of Network Radio Programming and Guide to all Circulating Shows (1992) indicates that the program was on NBC at 8pm from October 31, 1932, moving to 10pm from November 21, 1932 until September 26, 1949. He reports that there are 43 recorded shows available, 36 bearing dates.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

The Epic Casebook Of Inspector Carr (1956-85) - "... in which Inspector Carr investigates ..." - The highly successful detective series, starring Hugh Rouse as Inspector Carr. Written & Produced by Michael Silver at the CRC Studios, Johannesburg. The series aired originally on Thursday evenings at 21H30, sponsored by the Epic Oil Company of S.A. In 1977 the sponsorship ended and the series was renamed "Inspector Carr Investigates" and moved to the earlier slot of 20H30. The first actor to play Inspector Carr was Don Davis, he was replaced in 1959 by Hugh Rouse. Don returned briefly in 1963 for 14 episodes. However Hugh Rouse made this series his own. A short lived television series was made by the SABC in the early 1980's with Michael McCabe, playing the famous Inspector. Sadly the transformation from radio to television was a total disaster. The series ended in June 1985 on Springbok Radio. A local Johannesburg radio station, Radio Today 1485am tried to revive the series in 1997, sadly copyright issues could not be cleared up & the idea was abandoned. The series is currently being rebroadcast on the Internet Radio Service of Springbok Radio can be heard on Thursdays.Springbok Radio broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

.PURSUIT (CBS 1949 - 1952) was a detective series that presented the cases of the fictional Scotland Yard Inspector Peter Black. (The leading character was called Inspector Harvey in the audition show and the first episode.) The Inspector was a dedicated policeman, a man hunter, who once on the case, would not rest until the wrongdoer was brought to justice. Black was assisted in cases by Sgt. Moffet.

The series was unusual in that it featured dual narration. Starting in the Spring of 1950, Bill Johnstone provided the opening and closing narrations and sometimes, bridges between commercials. Inspector Black furnished the change of scenes and overall case narrations.

Standard Opening: Spoken by the Narrator:

"PURSUIT. "A criminal strikes and fades quickly back into
the shadow of his own dark world. . . and then, the man
from Scotland Yard, the famous Inspector Peter Black, and
the relentless, dangerous pursuit. . When man hunts man!"

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

ADVENTURES BY MORSE - From January 16, 1939 to January 26, 1952, stories from the pen of Carlton E. Morse graced the airwaves. The main ones remembered are One Man's Family, I Love A Mystery, and Adventures by Morse. Adventures by Morse related the escapades of Captain Bart Friday and Skip Turner, two San Francisco private investigators. Friday was a no-nonsense type, raised in the California. Turner was quite a bit the lady's man, complete with a laconic Southern accent. Their occasional work for U.S. Military Intelligence takes them around the globe. The series consisted of eight serials that ran from October 26, 1944 to October 18, 1945. The first serial, "City of the Dead", consisted of ten episodes. The second serial was done in three episodes. The remainder of the series lternated between ten and three 30-minute episodes. The adventures cover the world as well as the world of adventure. They take place on a South Pacific island, South America, Cambodia, and South Carolina plus other locations. They deal with murder, espionage, Nazi secret bases, kidnappers, voodoo and even snake worshippers. If you're looking for adventure, you'll find it here. (From the Old Time Radio Researcher's Group)

Monday, March 25, 2013

The Creaking Door was an old-time radio series of horror and suspense shows originating in South Africa. There are at present anywhere from 34-37 extant episodes in MP3 circulation, yet no currently available program logs for the series indicate the year of the series' broadcast (though it was likely sometime in the 1950s, given the generally high audio quality of the available shows), or the total number of episodes, and only a handful of them are known by their broadcast order. The stories are thrillers in the Inner Sanctum vein, and generally thought of favorably by most fans of OTR.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

.
Beyond Midnight (1968 - 1969) was written by Michael McCabe and was produced in South Africa. It was a replacement for another series McCabe produced, called SF68 which adapted famous Sci-fi stories to radio. Beyond Midnight was more horror oriented, including madness, murder, and the supernatural.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Probably one of the most popular radio programs ever broadcast in South Africa. Week by week a dramatized story of the South African Police at work would unfold. The series originally went out for broadcast on Sunday evenings. After 6 months the program moved to it's familiar Friday night 7H30pm slot on Springbok Radio, where it remained until 1979. Because of the popularity of the Friday night western series' on South African television at the same time slot as "Squad Cars", the series moved to 8H30pm and remained there until the end of June 1985 when the series came to an end. Two attempts were made to take the series to the screen. In 1974 a film called "Flying Squad" went onto the South African film circuit, followed in 1978 with a Television series called "Big City Heat". Neither of these shows were great successes, the masses still preferred to listen to the original on radio.